Humidity-driven changes in growth rate, photosynthetic capacity, hydraulic properties and other functional traits in silver birch (Betula pendula)

• Published in: Ecological research 2013-05, Vol.28 (3), p.523-535
• Main Authors: Sellin, Arne, Tullus, Arvo, Niglas, Aigar, Õunapuu, Eele, Karusion, Annika, Lõhmus, Krista
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absolute humidity; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Atmospheric humidity; Behavioral Sciences; Betula pendula; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Biomass allocation; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Birch trees; Climate change; Ecology; Evolutionary Biology; Foliage; Foliar nutrients; Forest ecosystems; Forestry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Growing season; Growth rate; Huber value; Humidity; Hydraulic properties; Leaves; Life Sciences; Nutrient content; Nutritional status; Original Article; Plant ecology; Plant growth; Plant populations; Plant Sciences; Plant tissues; Potassium ions; Relative humidity; Specific conductivity; Synecology; Trees; Water transport; Wood; Xylem sap; Zoology
• ISSN: 0912-3814; 1440-1703
• DOI: 10.1007/s11284-013-1041-1

A study was performed on saplings of silver birch ( Betula pendula Roth) growing at the free air humidity manipulation site, which was established to investigate the effect of increased air humidity on tree performance and canopy functioning. The aim of the experiment was to simulate the impact of the increasing atmospheric humidity on forest ecosystems predicted for northern Europe. Artificially elevated relative humidity (RH), which causes transpirational flux to decrease, diminished nutrient supply to the foliage; leaf nitrogen content, phosphorus content and P:N ratio decreased. The changes in leaf nutritional status brought about a considerable decline in both photosynthetic capacity ( A max , V cmax , J max ) and tree growth rate. The manipulation induced diverse changes in tree hydraulic architecture and other functional traits. Different segments of the soil-to-leaf water transport pathway responded differently: leaf hydraulic conductance ( K L ) decreased, while hydraulic conductance of root systems ( K R ) and leaf-specific conductivity of stem-wood increased in response to elevated RH. Humidification caused the Huber values of stems to increase, thus reflecting changes in allocation patterns; relatively more resources were allocated to vascular tissue and less to foliage. The elevated RH induced substantial changes in specific leaf area (increased), branch- (decreased) and stem-wood density (decreased). The observed responses suggest that the expected climate-change-induced increase in the growth rate of trees at northern latitudes (boreal areas) due to the earlier start of the growing season in spring or higher carbon assimilation rate could be smaller or null if temperature rise is accompanied by a rise in atmospheric absolute humidity.